Things That Your Dog Does That Amaze You.

[Blackdogs]

My Kelpie boy amazes me with his intelligence and bidability sometimes (and yes I am biased and absolutely besotted with him).

This dog is highly susceptible to reinforcement. The other day he was running laps and jumped over my outstretched legs as I was sitting on the ground. I chuckled at this once and wouldn't you know it he now makes a point of doing every time he does a lap.

Any kind of positive attention begets a repeat performance. I have managed to teach an organic sneeze just through praise. It's quite funny watching him pace back and force trying to work up an actual sneeze. I can capture just about anything in one reinforcer, including shaking water off, retrieving any object through 'yes' 'no' indicators when there are several to choose from, climbing trees, scaling playground equipment and sliding down slides, picking low hanging twigs from trees and several other more mundane tricks like holding a treat on his nose in a begging position for an extended period of time prior to catching it.

Anything is much more enjoyable for him if I'm watching. He loves to swim in the dam which he will do on his own, but not for long. He will run to me and do a Lassie style walk, turn, pause and stare until I follow him down to observe him swimming laps.

My approval or disapproval determines whether or not he contiues with a particular behaviour, even when he's in high prey drive. He will slam to a drop on command in the middle of chasing a ball at full speed (the drop was trained but not in drive). He will nudge and object and look at me to determine whether or not he can play with it no matter how enticing the object (he did this behaviour from the day I got him at 9 weeks, which came in pretty handy).

My Schipperke, on the other hand doesn't seem to have this quality. She learns at the drop of the hat if there's food involved, but cares little about praise. One thing she does do that I find fascinating is observational learning.

The other day I had two dogs in a 'beg' for food. She watched them for a minute then came and joined them in an untrained beg.

What things does your dog do that amazes you?

Let the gushing begin!

Edited November 29, 2012 by Blackdogs

[Staff'n'Mutt]

not sure I'd call it amaze but amuse now that's for us. Diva sits up and waves her front legs in the air until she gets pats be it with her butt on the ground a chair or our bed. We've got mangos dropping from our tree she brought me a mango when I was having a cuppa out the back a couple of days ago and I made a fuss of her as ya do, now she brings me mangos whenever she sees me sitting out the back with a coffee.

She also has a zebra fetish my kids have a few different zebra toys they are the ones she takes off with out the back at a zillion miles an hour, doesn't kill them or rip them up but does the snatch and grab and if by chance I don't spot her mid bolt she'll do a lap around me with a zebra hanging from her mouth.

So so many little things she does that makes the day so much more enjoyable for us all. :)

[Blackdogs]

not sure I'd call it amaze but amuse now that's for us. Diva sits up and waves her front legs in the air until she gets pats be it with her butt on the ground a chair or our bed. We've got mangos dropping from our tree she brought me a mango when I was having a cuppa out the back a couple of days ago and I made a fuss of her as ya do, now she brings me mangos whenever she sees me sitting out the back with a coffee.

She also has a zebra fetish my kids have a few different zebra toys they are the ones she takes off with out the back at a zillion miles an hour, doesn't kill them or rip them up but does the snatch and grab and if by chance I don't spot her mid bolt she'll do a lap around me with a zebra hanging from her mouth.

So so many little things she does that makes the day so much more enjoyable for us all. :)

Wow, that's so cute! I need to emply your dog to help me eat more fruit.

On another note, I guess we're the only two here who are amazed by their dogs. :D

[LisaCC]

Your dog sounds very clever :)

The most amazing thing my lab does, is how he reacts to emotion or illness. I'm sure plenty of other dogs do this too, instead of being his normal boisterous self he will come and rest his head and paw on me if I'm upset or sick.

But he has gone further, I was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 17, he was 7, so he didn't grow up around this experience. I had a seizure while out walking him off leash, he had actually never seen this happen, and from what people told me he rushed over to me, stayed calm, licked me a few times then stood over me and stopped people from coming near me, until my mother had came. Once I woke he just laid next to me while I recovered and then lead the way back home.

This is coming from a dog, when if you lay on the ground he will normally jump on you and try to play, I've also only ever seen him guard a bone before.

I could be just imagining it as I have heard its very rare to get a dog that naturally can do this, but I swear he would change his behaviour before I even had the 'aura' that comes before a seizure.

Before I had the seizures controlled I always felt much more comfortable with him around. I don't live at home or with him anymore and he is getting quite old, I'm sure I'll never have a dog quite like him again.

Edited December 3, 2012 by LisaCC

[Little Gifts]

i am currently recuperating from a shattered wrist. i swapped which side of the bed i sleep on as my heart girl and my current foster girl have been known to play vigorous bitey face with me as the wall to bounce off. but from the night i came home they both sniffed my new arm but have been very careful not to go close or even jump on the lounge or bed near it. they still play on the bed but don't involve me in their games and they still lie on me on the lounge but on the other side. my heart girl just came to try and scratch my arm off the computer as she does if she wants something and even though both arms are up she only went to the good arm. how do they know these things? my heart girl is one thing but my foster girl is also obviously very intuned and special.

[corvus]

My Erik is a little bit like your kelpie, Blackdogs. Crazy smart creature. He makes me a lazy trainer because he tries so hard to figure out what I want him to do and he just gets it. I was trying to get him to bring his bone inside one day and I'm pointing and repeating words and he's touching things with his paw going "This?...No... This? Pick it up?...Okay, was that it? No.... Pick it up again? Er.... Coming towards you....? Yes? No... Oh, pick it up again. Yes... Bring it inside. Yay!" He didn't actually want the old bone, but he went through this convoluted process of figuring out what I was on about so he could do it anyway. Darling.

Recently he was being a pest at the playing fields and I told him to go dig a hole. First time I'd ever said it to him, so you can imagine my shock when he promptly turned around, jumped into the sandpit, spent about 5 seconds digging in the sand, then came trotting out looking at me like "Did that. Treat?" The third time I sent him to dig my partner looked up and said "Is this something you've been working on?" I just shook my head and said "Spooky, huh?"

He also taught himself a send out instantly. I picked up the clicker one day and he ran out to where I'd left the leashes, jumped on them, then ran back. I clicked the second time he did it, did a handful of reps, then we took it on the road and I was sending him out to fences and steps and all sorts of things. I swear he browses the internet when we're all asleep or something. Where does he get these ideas?

I started teaching him to do a figure-8 around Kivi's legs one day and I basically just told him what to do. "Under, back there, under GOOD BOY!" He is a natural at cue adduction and is known to spontaneously put two behaviours he already knows together into some creative new behaviour. Once he carefully backed onto a curb so he could jump off it onto a wooden fence. I was like, "What was that??" Just Erik flair.

The other day we lost Kivi in the weeds and long grass a good 20m behind us. I said to Erik "Erik, where's Kivi?" E looks behind him, looks at me, then runs back up the hill, disappears in the grass, and a few moments later Kivi comes out and starts trotting down the hill towards us. Erik comes out a few moments later, passes him, then turns around and goes back to get him when he stops again. I've never taught him what "Where's ...." means, but he somehow picked it up and generalised it to anyone whose name he knows.

Training clever dogs is addictive. I'm wildly in love with Erik and training him is so much fun and regularly leaves me stunned at what he can do both physically and mentally. My other dog is just not in the same ballpark. I love him all the same, but I suddenly understand why people like drivey, biddable working breeds. Sometimes it's like having a furry kid around. I don't like to think on how much English he understands. I would probably find it disturbing. He understands even more human behaviour. We've had him loudly protest in the bedroom before when we started canoodling after he had decided we'd all had enough morning cuddles and it was time to get up. He was being very polite about telling us we should get up until then.

[PuddleDuck]

When I was pregnant kodiak decided to take over! If you said 'where's your baby?' She would tear in from wherever she was and put her head on my tummy. We never taught her to do it and after I had whelped if you asked her where her baby was she would ignore you. If the girlchild was going nuts with the kicks and Kodi put her head on my tummy the kicks stopped immediately. They had this weird connection.

The oddest was when I was out with hubby and my blood pressure went stupid and I collapsed on the ground for about an hour. It was quite common and he took me home when I could get up again. When I walked in Kodi took one look at me and started growling. I lay on the couch and she sniffed me head to toe, still growling, the spent 5 minutes shoving her nose into my belly and sniffing as hard as she could while grumbling to herself. She lay with her head on my belly and when I tried to stand she put her front paws on my shoulders and growled. I wasn't allowed up for about 2 hours.

Funnily enough when we did introduce her to the girlchild (look, it's your baby!) she gave us a 'you moron, my baby doesn't make any noise' look and then moved into the backyard for a few weeks

[PuddleDuck]

Bloody iPhone!

Edited December 4, 2012 by PuddleDuck

[poochmad]

LisaCC and Puppy_Sniffer, I can relate to both of your posts. 2 years ago I went through a traumatic time and was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and was unable to function for a week; the dogs during this time were a-m-a-z-i-n-g in that they were so quiet around me. They would come up and press themselves as close as possible, putting their heads on me and following me everywhere. I think they were part of the healing process.

This year I had a back operation and I was away for 3 nights in hospital and when they saw me they were excited to see me, but didn't jump up like they usually do. The husband was ready to tell them to sit and they didn't need to be told, it was like they knew. They also kept me company during my recovery period.

Jindi is quite clever in picking up tricks - she will do anything for a treat and knows, shake hands, rollover, speak, wave (which is adorable) and high five. Henschke, god love him is so dopey he only knows high five, but I'm trying to teach him to bow down as he stretches all the time, but he's a bit of a goofball and won't do it unless I'm down next to him.

Dogs are just wonderful. :D

Edited December 4, 2012 by poochmad

[LisaCC]

Poochmad I think it's amazing how they can read your emotions and body language.

Also I taught my boy how to bow by getting him to stand and then drop but I would keep my hand up under his belly, Luring with food if he felt uncomfortable to drop with my hand there, he learnt this way in just a few repetitions.

[MarieEvans]

As a puppy my dog would always dance to the song Starships. It's weird and funny at the same time. Got him on video once and it keeps me laughing.

[Little Gifts]

i just found photos on my camera that my sister took the day after e my wrist. i'm obviously dead to the world but the dogs are still being careful of my damaged arm!

[Kirislin]

Mine ate my lettuce from the veggie garden.

[huga]

Ok, not amazing for most people, but amazing to me. Sid was an incredibly bouncy, nutso, won't-sit-for-a-second puppy. He wouldn't seek a cuddle and would duck away if you tried to pat him. He has now matured into a gentle soul and has bonded very strongly with my youngest.

[trinabean]

Mine ate my lettuce from the veggie garden.

Mine doesn't do anything that amazes me. I still love him though.

Puppy Sniffer your two look very sweet, being all gentle and careful. :)

[mixeduppup]

Maybe my kelpie is like that, I've taught her to fetch anything anywhere. She'll jump fences to go and get her toy or ball. She'll also follow the point of my finger and go where I point, not just look at my finger. She'll jump over anything or onto anything I tell her to but never escapes the yard. She's very into reinforcement as well and the quickest learner I've come across.

Ammo amazed me yesterday (I should have got a photo), Torque broke into the rabbit cage and one of the baby bunnies was missing and I feared the worst, I couldn't find it anywhere. Then I heard Ammo bark and went into the garden shed and he's sitting next to it just looking at the door, waiting for me to come and get it.

Edited December 5, 2012 by mixeduppup

[trinabean]

Huga, Sid does Amazingly Cute very well. :D